All About That Bass, No Treble

Daily Spirit & Word: 802: Bless Those Who Curse You.

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES.

Do Good to Those Who Hate You.

Speak Gently To Your Children.

Good morning friends, I love having my grandchildren over, because they are full of life and song. Sometimes, it’s good to see them go again, because they are SOOOO FULL OF LIFE! Exhausting 🙂 However, they just love singing songs and dancing. I’ll get my Kingdom Speaker out (a little bluetooth speaker that I use for worship when I do home visits or in small group worship). One song they love dancing to is “All About That Bass, No Treble”. by Meghan Trainor. That song on YouTube has over 1,500,000,000 hits. No kidding, 1500 Million hits and rising. It’s a song about prejudice and attitudes towards people of different sizes.

The LORD Just gave me: “It’s ALL about my PEACE, No TROUBLE”.

“It’s All About My PEACE, No TROUBLE”

We worry about all kinds of things in life, and sometimes we get a zeal for them.

Some people hate eating meat and get so zealous they want everybody to become vegetarians. However, I love Bacon, Lamb and sometimes Beef. 🙂

Some people get a zeal for different size people and put people down if they are not the same; size, colour, shape as they are. So many are nervous to even go outside, because they think people are looking at them.

Some people get a zeal that’s just wrong.

My friends, we’ve got to check our ZEAL to know if we’re operating in a different kind of Spirit than that of the Holy Spirit. On Sunday we heard all about James and John wanting positions on the left and right of Jesus, today, here they are wanting to call down fire from Heaven to consume some Samaritans, just because they turned them away from their Village.

Luke 9:51-56 (NKJV) 51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

Now we all know, I think, that the Samaritans and Jews in Jesus time, didn’t mix or associate with one another. It’s a bit like Catholics and Protestants wouldn’t mix or associate with each other in Scotland when I was a kid. For very similar reasons, they had a different theology. So the Disciples had a natural dislike for Samaritans, an inbred prejudice against them. Today we’d call it Racism or Sectarianism. So when those Samaritans didn’t do something the Disciples (Jews) wanted them to do, that inbred hatred rose quickly to the surface, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” They felt justified in reacting in such a spiteful way.

This request was met with an equally immediate rebuke from Jesus lips, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of” or What kind of spirit you are operating out of.

You see my friends, Jesus Christ did not come to destroy men, but to save them. This is awesome, because Jesus is putting into practice his own teaching from Sermon on the Mount. Where he told his followers very clearly; “Love your enemies, do good to those that hate you, bless those who curse you”…

Call fire down from Heaven? No my friends, that was a ZEAL too far.

They were getting too zealous. They were not thinking about Jesus, but that natural hatred for Samaritans, that’s what was driving their zeal.

My friends, if people don’t accept you, or even reject you, or even resent your presence, then don’t let your natural dislikes dictate your responses to them. Instead, bless them. I’m serious, it’s amazing what can happen when you actually respond in gentle ways. Bless those who curse you.

In Proverbs God reveals and tells us this awesome truth: “A gentle answer turns away wrath”… I’ve seen this TRUTH of God’s Word in action my friends, many times.

Now, we don’t know what would have happened if the Disciples had said to those Samaritans “OK, so you don’t want us in your village, well may the LORD of Heaven richly bless you in every way. Have a good evening my friends”… Imagine, if they’d learned Jesus’ lesson on the Mount?

We know that rejection hurts, but as Jesus’ followers we can turn even rejection into an opportunity to BLESS PEOPLE. That’s the Spirit we should endeavour to operate in. That’s What God would do an does do. He did not reject you did He? He didn’t turn away from you, just because you’d sinned. No instead, God blessed you and me, by sending His Son Jesus Christ into this world to SAVE sinners.

Endeavour Means:

Noun: endeavour
1. A purposeful or industrious undertaking (especially one that requires effort or boldness)
2. Earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something

Verb: endeavour
1. Attempt by employing effort

What a wonderful world we could see if we put as much ZEAL into our reactions as Jesus demonstrated to His followers that day.

Listen again to Jesus response to them that day;

Luke 9:55-56. 55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

Now they are heading off to another village having been rebuked. It could have been so different. They could be skipping along to the next village full of joy with the Lord, if only they’d learned Jesus’ lessons from the Sermon on the Mount.

So my friends, when you are getting a bit angry, annoyed, upset with people; let’s just slow down, listen carefully to the Holy Spirit, because He wants to guide you. And check your motives and your feelings and your prejudices, before you react, before you speak, before you respond.

The Apostle James learned that lesson well from Jesus that day, because later on he wrote;

James 1:19 (NIV) “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,”

i.e. SLOW DOWN: Don’t get all het-up, don’t get heated too quickly.

How many times have you said something hurtful in response to someone, only to regret it later? I know I have, many times, but the LORD is teaching me again today; “Donald, you must slow down, don’t speak too quickly, don’t respond in anger or haste. Don’t listen to your prejudices or petty hates or dislikes. These are real people who NEED the LOVE of God in their lives. Jesus didn’t come to destroy, but to SAVE” Amen!

This just came to me:

A moment on the lips, A lifetime on the hips. 🙂

It’s the SAME with our WORDS: “A word from the lips, a lifetime on someone’s heart”

“A word from our lips, a lifetime on someone’s heart”

It’s half-term, the kids are off school, mums and dads, be patient with them. Love them! Speak GENTLE words to your kids, they won’t be kids for long. They’ll soon be off into the world. How you love them now will be carried into their adult lives. BE SLOW to become angry with everyone.

Have an awesome day with Jesus, grow in your knowledge and love of the Saviour.

Worship Him now, then go out on your mission in the world, to show His love. Amen!

Posts By Don Davis

God’s Word Daily

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